Just loose ideas on this or that ...by practicing physicians in Puerto Rico.....or by others, by invitation.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Seeking help for Haiti...Ayuda voluntaria de salud mental para Haiti

As expected, our Haitian brothers are suffering emotional problems related to the traumatic experience a few weeks after the earthquake that struck the neighboring island on January 12, 2010. The College of Physicians and Surgeons is asking, urgent and immediate activation, male psychiatrists who can offer their services as volunteers on the island of Haiti.

Volunteering is a great way to show our solidarity with the Caribbean country and carry out humanitarian work.

Fellow psychiatrist who need more information, please contact Dr. Luis Clas, Executive Director of the College of Physicians, Dr. Ingrid Alicea, President of the Academy of Psychiatry and Dr. Nestor J Galarza Diaz, Vice President of the Bar Surgeons or Dr. Rafael Cabrera, President of the Psychiatry Chapter, College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Stays in Haiti would be short and planned, because we have to help there without abandoning our patients in Puerto Rico.

I urge all mental health professionals to unite and prepare in the long term, to comfort survivors who desperate and suffering.

Below you will see an useful article of how to prepare as a volunteer for disaster mental health. the article helped me to see the limitations and not to have unreasonable high expectations when you work under adverse circumstances.

Historically, a psychological debriefing procedure—Critical Incident Stress Debriefing—was commonly utilized; however, the benefits of this approach have been brought into question and its use is no longer recommended. Currently, crisis intervention specialists recommend an approach known as Psychological First Aid (PFA),[31] which is not a plan of delivery of MHS, but a set of principles of care.